Did high-school program misrepresent itself to get on TV?

[mpcincal]

And, did ESPN do its due diligence in vetting teams for its broadcast?
Football factory IMG Academy played an Ohio team called Bishop Sycamore, who claimed to have a number of D1 prospects, but that didn't hold up to later analysis, and it turns out that Sycamore is an online charter school.
The result was a 58-0 shellacking by IMG and the ESPN announcers calling out Sycamore.

Was ESPN tricked into airing a 58-0 high school football blowout?

 

[User 150927]

How hard would have been to vet that team? Check MaxPreps, call the school, call the media outlet in Ohio that covers in? Would have taken less than half an hour to find out that that team was not what it claimed to be.

 

[MileHigh]

They've got, what, 20,000 people working at ESPN and this fell through the cracks?

I'm working a game in two weeks that's supposed to be on the mothership but might not be after a controversial week at the Colorado high school.

In any event, I have no sympathy for the mothership. Do your homework.

 

[SportsGuyBCK]

You gotta throw some of the blame IMG's way as well ... after all, IMG played Bishop Sycamore last season with a similar shellacking, so IMG's coaches/AD knew what they had (or didn't have) ... plus, IMG could've told ESPN/Paragon that this game would likely be a stinker, and that they should pick another week to televise IMG's game ...

 

[Col. Nathan R. Jessup]

From the Yahoo! article:
“That previous loss is where the situation gets even more bizarre, as the team's record might have actually been 0-2 entering Sunday. The reason we say that is there is documentation of a Bishop Sycamore team playing in Ohio on Friday, two days before its showdown against IMG Academy.
The schedule-makers responsible for the game, Paragon Marketing Group, reportedly told Awful Announcing they were not aware Bishop Sycamore played Friday and would have canceled the game if they were aware, so ESPN might not have been the only entity duped here.”

How was ~any~ of this allowed to happen? So many people and organizations dropped the ball here. I watched the first quarter of this game on TV and, yeah, I had seen enough and had written it off as “I think IMG does this to everybody.” I’ll be interested to see if any reporters get to the true bottom of this.

 

[FileNotFound]

I just can't come up with any reason why high school football on TV is a good or necessary thing.

 

[tapintoamerica]

The Sycamores' coaches and administrators should punished somehow for putting kids in harm's way by throwing them to lions or wolves or whatever ferocious beast you can name twice in three days.

There has to be a breach of contract here somewhere: Whether by "Bishop Sycamore" in its contract with IMG or IMG with ESPN or something.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I just can't come up with any reason why high school football on TV is a good or necessary thing.

This. So much this.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

I mean, I can't figure out why newspapers cover high school football. But here we are.

 

[Starman]

I just can't come up with any reason why high school football on TV is a good or necessary thing.

High school football is one thing.
20U semipro travel team football
is another thing.

 

[HanSenSE]

If anyone is looking for sympathy for the WWL, try the dictionary between **** and syphilis.

 

[tapintoamerica]

So here's the Yahoo story :
ESPN televised a high school football game on Sunday. We can say that much.

On one sideline was Florida's IMG Academy, which you may know as the biggest athlete factory in the country. The entity is less a high school and more a finishing school for select athletes from across the country to prepare for the collegiate or professional ranks. Its list of athletic alumni has its own Wikipedia page, featuring nearly two dozen NFL players.

And then there's a story from something called againstthepoints.com; and this is its story.
ESPN televised a high school football game on Sunday. We can say that much.


On one sideline was Florida’s IMG Academy, which you may know as the biggest athlete factory in the country. The entity is less a high school and more a finishing school for select athletes from across the country to prepare for the collegiate or professional ranks. Its list of athletic alumni has its own Wikipedia page, featuring nearly two dozen NFL players.


There is no overt indication that againstthepoints.com is a subsidiary of Yahoo. Even if so, why would the byline on its site be different than the one on Yahoo?
Looks to me like Yahoo has been a victim of lift, clean and place. Maybe with no cleaning involved.

 

[User 149557]

There are enough powerhouse programs in Ohio that if you’re broadcasting high school football as a business and don’t recognize their name, they probably shouldn’t be on TV.

 

[Starman]

ESPN televised a high school football game on Sunday. We can say that much.

Actually, no.
IMG Academy in fact is nothing whatsoever like a "high school."

 

[wicked]

One of these stories is a straight cut and paste (can't figure out which one):

Rough and Rowdy in Rural Appalachia

Barstool’s Portnoy continues to profit seven figures from degenerate West Virginia boxing

 

[Justin_Rice]

God all the things I despise get to eat **** off this story ... ESPN hyping high school football, a fake high school from a bunch of people seeking football glory, the travel-ball community, IMG and their sports factory ...

I heart this entire story.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

God all the things I despise get to eat **** off this story ... ESPN hyping high school football, a fake high school from a bunch of people seeking football glory, the travel-ball community, IMG and their sports factory ...

I heart this entire story.

 

[goalmouth]

One of these stories is a straight cut and paste (can't figure out which one):

Rough and Rowdy in Rural Appalachia

Barstool’s Portnoy continues to profit seven figures from degenerate West Virginia boxing

A pizzeria in my town somehow got an attaboy from Barstool and now it has a giant banner out front.

 

[garrow]

Number of bishops named Sycamore: zero.

 

[hondo]

The Sycamores' coaches and administrators should punished somehow for putting kids in harm's way by throwing them to lions or wolves or whatever ferocious beast you can name twice in three days.

There has to be a breach of contract here somewhere: Whether by "Bishop Sycamore" in its contract with IMG or IMG with ESPN or something.

I think their insurance carrier would be interested in kids playing football twice in three days.